Thanks to Alan Simpson for providing Gene Wolfe obit links. I’m still holding off a bit on posting here, as I’d like to see some things come together first.
In the meantime: Georgia Engel, Ted Baxter’s girlfriend/wife on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Apparently, she also had a gig on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, but I was one of the people who didn’t love Raymond. And she had a pretty substantial theater career, both before and after MTM.
Seymour Cassel, character actor.
As the obit notes, he did a lot of work with John Cassavetes and Wes Anderson. But his list of credits goes beyond that. He did a guest shot on “Convoy” (the TV series) and was in “Convoy” (the movie). He did several episodes of “12 O’Clock High” and “The F.B.I.”, was in two “Batman” episodes, guested on “Matlock”, and was even in one “ST:TNG” episode.
Never did a “Mannix”, though, as far as I can tell.
(Noted: “Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight”. Just read the summary.)
David Fechheimer, private investigator. Noted here because this is one of the better NYT obits for a not-so-famous person I’ve read in a while.
Ron “The Ghoul” Sweed, late night TV host in Cleveland during the 70s.
Sweed broke into Cleveland TV in 1971 on WKBF Channel 61. He wore a lab coat and was armed with an assortment of low-rent props, from Cheez Whiz to firecrackers to flying pierogis, kielbasa and slime. He quickly was syndicated in six other markets — Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
He got his start working as an assistant for another late-night TV legend, Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson. He received Anderson’s permission to appear as the Ghoul in 1971.
(Previously. Hattip: Lawrence.)
Richard Erdman, noted character actor. He was on “Community”, which I never watched. But before that, he seems to have done guest shots on many TV shows of the 1970s and 1960s (except “Mannix”). Like everyone else in Hollywood, he was also in “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, and played Hoffman in “Stalag 17”.
Al Silverman passed away on Sunday. He worked in publishing, spending 16 years with Book of the Month Club and later becoming an editor with Viking Books.
Before that, he was a freelance sportswriter and later editor in chief of “Sport” magazine. While he was editing “Sport”, he met and wrote about Gayle Sayers, who was recovering from a knee injury. Ultimately, Mr. Silverman and Mr. Sayers collaborated on Mr. Sayers’s autobiography, I Am Third. And, in turn, a chapter from that book became the basis for “Brian’s Song”.
Another great story:
When the running back Paul Hornung was celebrated for leading the Green Bay Packers to the 1961 National Football League championship, Sport awarded him a 1962 Corvette. Mr. Hornung soon after sold the car and got into a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service in United States Tax Court after he failed to disclose the full market value of the car as part of his gross income for 1962.
“My father testified to Hornung’s defense that he should not pay income tax on the car,” Brian Silverman said. His father argued that the car was an unsolicited reward for Mr. Hornung’s talents and thus should be tax-exempt — “the same as a Nobel Prize, because football was Hornung’s art and he performed it to an award-winning degree.” Mr. Hornung lost the case.
Luke Perry, for the record. I wish I could say more, other than 52 is too young.
Nathaniel Taylor. He was perhaps best known as “Rollo” on “Sanford and Son”.
Last and least, serial killer Juan Corona.
I thought about using the “is burning in Hell” line for the late Mr. Corona. But if you read the NYT obit (and I’ve seen these facts referenced elsewhere), there were some…questionable things that went on during his two trials:
Prosecutors were found to have misplaced or mishandled evidence, and forensic tests that ought to have been done early on were delayed. At one point a prosecutor improperly suggested that Mr. Corona’s refusal to testify suggested that he was guilty.
The judge, who repeatedly expressed dismay at the prosecutors’ performance, reminded the jury that the burden of proof rested totally on the prosecution. Mr. Corona was convicted on Jan. 18, 1973, and sentenced to life in prison. (The California Supreme Court had overturned the state’s death penalty months before the trial.)
…
Even after finding Mr. Corona guilty, some jurors said they were “shocked” and “flabbergasted” that his defense had presented no psychiatric evidence on his behalf. His original public defender had planned to have him plead not guilty by reason of insanity, but the family retained a lawyer who spurned that approach. Later, the lawyer was found to have been angling for a book deal about the case.
In May 1978, a California appeals court overturned the conviction, declaring that Mr. Corona’s defense had been inept and compromised.
During the second trial, Mr. Corona’s new lawyers suggested that the actual killer was his half-brother, Natividad Corona, who had disappeared somewhere in Mexico. Mr. Corona was convicted again. As far as I can tell, he’d been in jail or prison since 1971.
Katherine Helmond. Alzheimer’s got her at 89. THR. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
I didn’t watch “Who’s the Boss?” and my parents wouldn’t let me watch “Soap” first run. But:
Her TV credits go back to 1955, and include “Car 54, Where Are You?”, “Hec Ramsey”, “Harry O”, “Meeting of Minds” (she played Emily Dickinson)…
…and, believe it or not, two episodes of “Mannix”. (“A Fine Day for Dying” and “A Rage to Kill”.)
And she was in three Terry Gilliam movies: “Time Bandits”, “Brazil”, and “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas”.
She sounds like someone I would have enjoyed hanging out with, maybe over a cheeseburger and the amusing house red.
Dick Churchill passed away earlier this month at the age of 99.
…
Mr. Churchill helped dig the three main tunnels, which the prisoners called Tom, Dick and Harry. It was arduous, nerve-racking work, conducted with improvised tools and the constant risk of discovery or a cave-in.
“You didn’t have any air,” Mr. Churchill said, “and you had a little fat lump lamp which was Reich margarine, which spluttered, with a bit of pajama cord or something similar, which sucked up the oil and gave you a little bit of a light. And you hacked away at your sand, pushed it behind you where another fool took it further back.”
The tunnels were cleverly concealed, but Tom was discovered by the Germans in 1943 and Dick proved unusable. On a frigid night in March 1944, Mr. Churchill was one of 76 prisoners to make their way through the tunnel called Harry and out of Stalag III.
…
Mr. Churchill was the last surviving member of the escape party.
She was most famous as the author of The Love Boats (link goes to revised edition on Amazon, and yes, I will get a tiny kickback if you buy the book), about her time as a cruise ship hostess and cruise director. That book inspired three TV movies, and ultimately “The Love Boat” television series.
Mark Bramble, who wrote the book for the musical “Barnum” and co-wrote the book for “42nd Street”. Oddly, when I was in my late teens, I saw “Barnum” with Stacy Keach in the title role. But I don’t remember very much about the music or the book…
I’ve avoided writing about Brody Stevens because:
The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you live outside of the United States or are looking for other help, TVTropes has a surprisingly good page of additional resources.
Stanley Donen, who I have seen described as “one of the last Golden Age directors”, and certainly one of the greats. THR.
“On the Town”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Charade”, “Funny Face”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Damn Yankees”, “Bedazzled”. What a life.
(Hattip: Lawrence.)
Also by way of THR: Morgan Woodward. Interesting career: he did a lot of stuff. Oddly, not “Mannix”, but 19 episodes of “Gunsmoke”, “Hill Street Blues”, “Bonanza”, “Bearcats!”, two episodes of “Star Trek: Original Recipe” (“on which he was the first victim of Mr. Spock’s telepathic ‘Vulcan mind meld.'”), “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”…
…and “Boss Godfrey” (the guy with the mirrored sunglasses) in “Cool Hand Luke”.
Speaking of “Star Trek”, we caught the last three or so minutes of “The Naked Time” last night while waiting for “Kolchak”. Now, I’m not a big “Trek” fan, but for some reason, I got to wondering what John D.F. Black (who wrote that episode) was up to.
Turns out he passed away in late November without my noticing. Google does not turn up an obit in the NYT or any of the papers I usually frequent, though it looks like THR ran one that I (and everyone I know) missed.
I knew that he was one of the more highly regarded “Trek” writers. I did not know that he’d co-written the screenplay for the original “Shaft” with Ernest Tidyman. He also did TV work for, among other shows, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “Hawaii Five-O”…and, yes, he wrote an episode of “Mannix” (“A Day Filled with Shadows”: he shares the writing credit with Cliff Gould).
By way of Lawrence, THR obit for Julie Adams.
Edited to add: NYT obit.
She was most famous for “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (which I still haven’t seen). But her list of credits is extensive, including “McQ” and “The Last Movie”.
And she did a whole bunch of TV work: Jimmy Stewart’s wife on “The Jimmy Stewart Show”, guest shots on “Perry Mason”, “Ironside”, “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors”…
…and “Mannix”. (“Then the Drink Takes the Man”, “Little Girl Lost”). And she was the drunken wife of the dead scientist in the “Mr. R.I.N.G” episode of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker“.
(Oddly enough, she came up in passing Saturday night. The main topic of discussion was the annoying (to me, anyway) tendency of “Kolchak”‘s writers to kill off the more attractive women. The hot girl in the bathing suit in “Firefall”, the lab worker in “The Energy Eater”, the Air Force captain in “Legacy of Terror”, etc.)
As an administrative side note: I’ve been thinking about posting this for a while, but finally decided to make it explicit. If your IMDB credits include an entry for “Mannix”, you will automatically get an obit watch entry here. Please feel free to contact me with any omissions.
This one goes out to Mike the Musicologist: Sanford Sylvan, noted baritone. He did a lot of work with John Adams: among other roles, he was the first Chou En-lai in “Nixon in China” and Leon Klinghoffer in “The Death of Klinghoffer”.
Finally, Captain Rosemary Mariner, United States Navy (ret.). She was one of the first six women to go through naval flight training, the first to fly an attack jet, and the first woman to command a naval aviation squadron. She also had a leading role in removing the restrictions on women flying combat missions.
When she retired from the Navy in 1997, Captain Mariner “had become one of the nation’s leading advocates for equal opportunity in the military,” Deborah G. Douglas wrote in “American Women and Flight since 1940” (2005).
Captain Mariner logged 17 landings on aircraft carriers and more than 3,500 flight hours in 15 different aircraft.
Lawrence sent me the “Variety” obit for character actor Dick Miller.
He was hella prolific. Among his credits: the pawn shop guy in “The Terminator”, the sleezy land developer in the original “Piranha”, “Gremlins”, “Chopping Mall”, “Twilight Zone: The Movie”…
…and a lot of TV guest shots, including “Police Squad!” (“In Color!”), “Dragnet 1967”, and, yes, “Mannix” (“Falling Star”, “The Cost of a Vacation”).
He also appeared in “W*A*L*T*E*R”, which is one of those curious side notes in television history.
Speaking of curious side notes, Meshulam Riklis passed away a few days ago at the age of 95. He was a prominent financier, but became somewhat famous in the 1980s for what happened after he married his second wife…
…Pia Zadora.
His devotion to Ms. Zadora included inviting Golden Globe Awards voters to private screenings of “Butterfly” (1982), a film he produced for her, and promoted her candidacy in a media campaign — all for someone considered a lightweight competing with the likes of Kathleen Turner, Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Elizabeth McGovern for best new star of the year in a motion picture.
When Ms. Zadora won the award — a shock in Hollywood and beyond — it was assumed that Mr. Riklis had somehow engineered her victory, although he and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Golden Globes, denied the accusation.
Carlos Sánchez, best known as Juan Valdez in the commercials for Colombian coffee.
(Hattip on this to my beloved and indulgent sister-in-law.)
Ringo Lam, noted Hong Kong film director.
I need to rewatch “City on Fire” (and watch “School on Fire” and “Prison on Fire“). I saw it once, back when there was a theater on Riverside Drive that showed Hong Kong movies at midnight. But as I recall, when they showed “City on Fire” they somehow got the reels out of order…
Doug Johnson, longtime Houston weatherman for KPRC. Tribute from KPRC, which includes the chicken. When I was growing up in Houston, my family’s news and weather came from Ron Stone and Doug Johnson. I never met the man, but he sure seemed like (and was, by all accounts I’ve heard) a good guy.
Donald Moffat, noted actor.
…
…
“All the Dead Were Strangers“. He also did shots on the good “Hawaii 5-0”, “Mission: Impossible”, and “The Six Million Dollar Man”, among many other TV credits. (Seasonally appropriate: he was “Dr. Chandler” in the horribly misguided adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Star” for the 1985 “Twilight Zone”.)
And “President Bennett” in “Clear and Present Danger”.
For the record, since I’m a little behind: Penny Marshall.
Ken Berry, noted television actor. (“Mama’s Family”, “Mayberry R.F.D.”, “Dr. Kildare”, and he did a bunch of work on “Fantasy Island”, among his other credits.)
Yeah, I was going to put up the “F Troop” opening credits, but you know what? The paper of record beat me to it.